Aston Villa faced 10th place Nottingham Forest on Sunday, 8th place Brentford on Wednesday night and now the men in claret and blue are preparing to take on Ipswich Town, who currently sit at 9th in the table.
The Tractor Boys will be looking to replicate last weekends performance against Derby, as they won 1-0 away from home.
In contrast, Villa will still be kicking themselves after falling to a late equaliser against Brentford in mid-week and will be looking to make amends at Portman Road this weekend.
Ipswich Form
Mick McCarthy’s side have tasted success three times so far this season. Besides their win against Derby, the men in blue also triumphed at home to Preston and Barnsley.
Amongst those wins, there has been a couple of draws with Norwich and Wolves, and two defeats to Brentford and Reading.
Ipswich Key Man
Ipswich’s key man is Brett Pitman. After Daryl Murphy departed the club in the latest transfer window, the 28-year-old striker is now the man Ipswich fans look to for inspiration, and goals.
In his first season with the Tractor Boys, Pitman ended up as top-scorer with 11 goals.
He has made four appearances so far this season, but has only managed one scalp.
Ipswich fan and journalist Jacob Broadbridge (@jacobbroady_) believes Pitman could be the man who guides Ipswich to a promotion spot.
He drifts wide, wins headers and plays key passes, as well as being a great finisher. Pitman needs to be the 20 goals a season striker if Ipswich want to get top 6 this year.
IPSWICH Manager
After spending six successful years at Wolves, Mick McCarthy was appointed as the new boss of Ipswich Town in 2012.
Accompanied by his trusty assistant Terry Connor, the 57-year-old helped Ipswich to safety in his inaugural season, in a campaign where they looked destined for the drop.
In his first full season with the Suffolk club, McCarthy’s men could only manage a 9th place finish.
The following season was undoubtedly his best with the club, though, as he guided Ipswich to their first play-off finish in 10 years. But they later lost out to rivals Norwich City in the semi-finals.
Last season, the Tractor Boys just missed out on a play-off spot with a 7th place finish.
Jacob Broadrbridge said:
Personally, I’m a big fan of him. He doesn’t play the most attractive football but it wins games in the Championship, and that’s all you need. He is doing wonders with the financial backing he has.
Ipswich’s Likely Line-up
Ipswich are expected to remain unchanged from their triumph at Derby last weekend, and will line-up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Bialkowski; Knudsen, Webster, Berra, Chambers; Skuse, Douglas; Grant, Bru, Ward; Pitman.
The predictions
After a disappointing result against Brentford on Wednesday, I’m feeling rather pessimistic about this weekend. Like Brentford, Ipswich are a very talented side, so I think we’ll draw 2-2.
Jacob Broadbridge agrees:
It’s going to be a difficult affair. Any points out of the game would be a good result for Ipswich as Villa are always going to be tough. It’s a good time to be playing them as they have got off to a slow start and the home fans will push the players for a win. I reckon the score will be 2-2 as both sides seem partial to conceding.
